The Trump administration has begun relocating white South Africans to the US. The president himself defends the decision by saying that the group is being subjected to genocide – but that this is being hushed up because it is white people who are affected.

Fifty-nine white South Africans have already been flown into the country and, according to the Trump administration, are the first in a larger relocation of Afrikaners – a white minority group subjected to widespread violence, persecution, and discrimination in their homeland.

The program, which was presented in February, prioritizes Afrikaners who are considered to be in constant danger due to violence and harassment in predominantly black South Africa.

– Because they’re being killed. And we don’t want to see people be killed… it’s a genocide that’s taking place. Farmers are being killed. They happen to be white, Trump said in a press statement when a journalist demanded an answer as to why the president wanted to help white refugees in particular.

Afrikaners – mainly descendants of Dutch and French settlers who came to South Africa hundreds of years ago – make up about 2.7 million of South Africa’s 62 million inhabitants.

Many live in rural areas, where violent crime against farmers is common, and although there are no longer any official statistics, it is clear that thousands of white South Africans have been murdered in recent decades.

U.S. officials greet white South Africans to whom the Trump administration has granted refugee status for being deemed victims of racial discrimination in their home country. pic.twitter.com/JwaVyziofT

— CSPAN (@cspan) May 12, 2025

South African government denies persecution

Trump and several of his advisers, including South African Elon Musk, have pointed out that the murders are often motivated by racial hatred and that the victims are targeted because they are white.

However, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola rejects the accusations and claims that “there is no data at all that backs that there is persecution of white South Africans”.

– White farmers get affected by crime just like any other South Africans, he claims.

The South African government further claims that Afrikaners are better off than most people in the country and that misinformation and inaccurate reporting are behind the perception that the group is particularly vulnerable.

Journalists, lobby organizations promoting mass immigration, and political opponents have also reacted with dismay to Trump’s decision to focus on helping white refugees rather than people of non-European descent.

“Brutally killed”

However, Trump stands his ground and emphasizes that he is not helping the Afrikaners because of their skin color, but because they are suffering from something horrific – something that is being silenced by Western media.

REPORTER: Why are you creating an expedited path into the country for Afrikaners but not others?

TRUMP: Because they’re being killed. And we don’t want to see people be killed … it’s a genocide that’s taking place. Farmers are being killed. They happen to be white. pic.twitter.com/8LV3VmZ296

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 12, 2025

– Whether they are white or Black makes no difference to me, but white farmers are being brutally killed, and their land is being confiscated in South Africa.

– The newspapers and the media, television media, doesn’t even talk about it. If it were the other way round, they’d talk about it, that would be the only story they talk about. I don’t care who they are. I don’t care about their race, their color, I don’t care about their height, their weight, I don’t care about anything, I just know that what is happening is terrible.

Earlier this year, The Nordic Times highlighted the lives and history of the Afrikaners in a lengthy cultural article.